<< TOONS SPOKEN OF ~ MAIN ~ MO' MOTOON NEWS >>

GLOBAL LEUNIG

It’s international Michael Leunig mania! The celebrated Australian peacenik’s entry in an Iranian Holocaust cartoon contest—in fact, Leunig’s work was submitted by a prankish Leunig activist—has won worldwide notice, from Le Monde to the Sydney Morning Herald:

Renowned Australian cartoonist Michael Leunig has submitted the first entry in a controversial contest for cartoons of the Holocaust launched in Iran today in a tit-for-tat move over the caricatures of the prophet Mohammed that have enraged Muslims worldwide.

"As a show of solidarity with the Muslim world, and an exercise in free speech, I would like to submit a cartoon to you on the theme of the Holocaust,” Leunig was quoted as saying on Irancartoons.com, the website organising the competition with Iran’s biggest selling newspaper Hamshahri, triggering outrage in the US and Germany in particular.

Leunig has also earned coverage in the European Jewish Press, Islam Online (love the pic!), Melbourne’s Herald Sun, the Middle East Times, and South Africa’s News 24.

Well done, Michael! In other Leunig news, the Euroa Gazette reports he recently drew a large cartoon in opposition to a waste disposal facility planned for Violet Town.

UPDATE. The fun is over:

Renowned The Age cartoonist Michael Leunig says a cartoon apparently submitted in his name to an Iranian newspaper seeking entries on the theme of the Holocaust is a fake.

Leunig has demanded that the cartoon and words written under his name be removed from an Iranian web site.

UPDATE II. Items falling for the Leunig prank also ran in Bahrain, China, and Italy—although the latter has since been withdrawn.

UPDATE III. Leunig and his newspaper are extremely concerned:

Mr Leunig said he first heard that some of his cartoons had been submitted to the competition following a call from a concerned executive at The Age newspaper in Melbourne.

"I learnt last night that some of my cartoons from a few years back have been submitted as an entry in that competition,” Mr Leunig told ABC radio.

"The Age is extremely concerned because The Age newspaper was also mentioned on the website (Irancartoons.com),” he said.

Ha! The Age earlier ran the same wire item as everyone else, announcing that Leunig had entered the Holocaust contest. Maybe they’ll sue themselves.

UPDATE IV. Leunig is a victim of war:

Mr Leunig says the email may have come from Australia and he is dismayed by what is a hurtful act.

"I’ve been set up horribly, maliciously and to me it denotes what it means to stand up against this conflict and this warlike sort of state the world is in and you know, it’s difficult,” he said.

UPDATE V. Incidentally, the line above from The Age—that the submitted Leunig cartoon was fake—is wrong. The cartoon was genuine.

UPDATE VI. Leunig is hot on the trail of his hoaxer:

The artist said he had “various theories” about who submitted the work but preferred to go no further. However, he said he suspected involvement by the “pro-war lobby ... to discredit me”.

Interesting tactic; discrediting someone by submitting their unmodified work.

"There’s been a number of columnists who are always inciting people to act against me and I’ve always been really perturbed about that,” he said.

"You can shrug it off but it’s a worry when you’re on the receiving end and I don’t bear those people very much good will.

"This is part of a long series of grinding, malicious attacks I get in the mail, on email, in columns. I’ve taken an anti-war position, as I did in the Vietnam War and now in the Iraq war. If you take that position you end up on the end of a hell of a lot of malice (and) ill-will.

"I’ve found ... pro-war people in this country have been very vicious and peronal in their attacks, dirty tricks and campaigns against individuals. I don’t think the same has happened from the anti-war side."

Australia’s Shakespeare sounds like he needs a hug. Of course, what must really be eating at Leunig is that a Holocaust-mocking contest instantly accepted his cartoon, and that the global press found such a circumstance so plausible.

Posted by Tim B. on 02/13/2006 at 02:47 PM
  1. "In other Leunig news, the Euroa Gazette reports he recently drew a large cartoon in opposition to a waste disposal facility planned for Violet Town.”

    That’s right, let’s not dispose of it, let’s just wallow in it, baby! With respect to the holocaust scribble, it is absolutely unsurprising that this bufoonist should assume his place in the front line of the Moral Equiva-Lancers.

    Posted by paco on 2006 02 13 at 03:01 PM • permalink

  2. Is this guy for real, does he exist? by submitting cartoons to Iran he is admitting that it is ok for the West to publish cartoons of MO.

    Posted by Torontosteve on 2006 02 13 at 03:18 PM • permalink

  3. Leunigtic opposed to a sh*t disposal facility? Sure ‘nuff, as he is himself a universal sh*t distributor.

    Posted by stats on 2006 02 13 at 03:30 PM • permalink

  4. It doesn’t matter how banal your point really is: if you put it into a cartoon it seems like profundity.  Wish I could draw.

    Posted by rexie on 2006 02 13 at 04:20 PM • permalink

  5. Go Michael! Go AWB! Who’s gonna pull their trousers down next? Could this be Oz’s answer to Bareback Mounting?

    Posted by Henry boy on 2006 02 13 at 04:21 PM • permalink

  6. How different the camps would be today, with telecommuting.

    Posted by rhhardin on 2006 02 13 at 04:25 PM • permalink

  7. Rexie, you don’t have to be able to draw—just look at Leunig’s cartoon.

    Posted by Warmongering Lunatic on 2006 02 13 at 04:26 PM • permalink

  8. Is it just me or is Mr Curly the spitting image of Mohammed?

    Posted by Margos Maid on 2006 02 13 at 04:32 PM • permalink

  9. For the sake of consistency should we be issuing a RWDB Fatwa against the Australian Living Treasure?

    Posted by Hank Reardon on 2006 02 13 at 04:57 PM • permalink

  10. AUSTRALIA could become a Muslim nation within 50 years because “we are aborting ourselves almost out of existence”, a Government backbencher says. I have read … comments by a certain imam from the Lakemba Mosque [who] actually said that Australia is going to be a Muslim nation in 50 years’ time,” said Mrs Vale, MP for the southern Sydney seat of Hughes.

    “I didn’t believe him at the time. But … look at the birthrates and you look at the fact that we are aborting ourselves almost out of existence by 100,000 abortions every year … You multiply that by 50 years. That’s 5 million potential Australians we won’t have here.”

    Ok, so Mr Westfield will be ditching Christmas Shopping for Ramadam Sales or how about in 50 years time seeing “the 5 Pillar festivals Shop till you drop sale” throughout all the Westfield shopping centres?

    Berka Sales could be the new fashion for all the Aussie submissive gals in all bright colours with the 50 percent off sales in March.

    Salaam wa laykoum: May peace be upon you.

    This little phrase could be a good phrase to use in 50 years time here in Islamic Australia and not the Chinese Asian after all as Paul Keating thought.


    Ok The new Islamic Australian Anthem in 50 years

    I love my Islamic Australian Country,
    A land of grants and funded plains,
    Of raggered mountain ranges, so Al Qeye da
    can train and breed again.

    I love her far horizons
    I love her dual passports
    that are given out so free
    This invaded country for me.

    Dorothea Mackellar, ‘My country’, 1908 with modified version.

    Posted by ratio on 2006 02 13 at 05:28 PM • permalink

  11. Leunig has set up an interesting trap for those who will now condemn him, where he can insist it’s all about “freedom of speech”.

    It isn’t.

    The fact is, not one Jew or Australian (to my knowledge) burnt down a Fairfax office or threatened to kill Leunig.

    Posted by Dan Lewis on 2006 02 13 at 05:49 PM • permalink

  12. How in the world is the Tehran newspaper Hamshahri (http://weekbyweek7.blogspot.com/2006/02/iranian-newspaper-launches-anti.html#links) which is owned and managed by the Tehrani mayor’s office going to ensuire:
    1. that the western media publishes the cartoons; and 2. if they don’t how do they ensure that the Western media will!

    Also, the Iranaians are being very duplicitious given there is no comparable freedom of speech in Iran. Plus, the Holocaust cartoon competition is clearly targeting Jews. The Danes that first published the offending cartoons were Lutherans!

    Posted by WeekByWeek on 2006 02 13 at 06:03 PM • permalink

  13. He sure puts the ‘loon’ back into Leunig.

    Posted by ausdiplomad on 2006 02 13 at 06:06 PM • permalink

  14. You guys might want to look at the article here at

    http://www.theage.com.au/news/world/ive-been-set-up-horribly-says-leunig/2006/02/14/1139679542847.html

    Looks like the cartoon in question along with the text was not sent by Leunig at all but by someone else.

    The cartoon has been pulled and the Age is taking legal advice.

    Posted by tssk on 2006 02 13 at 06:24 PM • permalink

  15. #14 Leunig is a victim once again, and the world of holocaust-driven hilarity is much the poorer.

    Posted by Margos Maid on 2006 02 13 at 06:35 PM • permalink

  16. "AN Islamic community leader says Liberal backbencher Danna Vale’s comments about Australians aborting themselves out of existence while Muslim families grew are racist.”

    Actually how can it be racist, it’s about a religion. This needs to be clarified in Australia.

    Once again, australians should start defining themselves only be religion and then point the finger.

    Do they call themselves Islamic is that a race or a religion?

    Posted by ratio on 2006 02 13 at 06:36 PM • permalink

  17. So wake up Australia call firstly it’s important to call yourself your religion first, so you can go for the you’re racists card, then you families birth place, even if you have never been there, then Australian if you have to then sexual preference then male or female then your star signs..

    Me, I’m a leo.

    Posted by ratio on 2006 02 13 at 06:39 PM • permalink

  18. How low can this person get to in terms of racism?” president of Australian Federation of Islamic Councils Dr Amir Ali said.

    “This is the most racist comment I have ever seen.”

    Pigs Arse!!

    Definition of Racist: a person with a prejudiced belief that one race is superior to others

    Islam is a religion
    and not a race. Are we living in a cultural marxist state now or what?

    These men really need to learn our history and education here before defining the English language.

    Posted by ratio on 2006 02 13 at 06:43 PM • permalink

  19. #14--That someone could so easily gin up an offensive cartoon and it could be readily accepted as a Leunigtic original says more about Leunigtic than anything Leuny has produced himself.

    Posted by the wolf on 2006 02 13 at 06:43 PM • permalink

  20. #10 - I would love for someone (from the ABS) to crunch the numbers on that

    20.5 million aussies 2006

    10 million (the girls) with a fert rate of 1.7 (below replacement)

    250,000 (the girls) with a fert rate of 7.1 thanks to PC’s baby bonus it just might be possible.

    50years or 100 that is the question?

    Posted by knuckleheadwatch on 2006 02 13 at 06:52 PM • permalink

  21. Leunigtic, a loser among losers. He would be a cosmic joke were it not that he pays his country back for the swell life and freedoms it gives him with treachery, dishonor, and shameless mendacity, to say nothing of giving gleeful aid and comfort to a bunch of throat slashers. I wish him that which he fears most and that which he shall surely reap, obscurity of such a nature that the memory of him is blotched out.

    Posted by stats on 2006 02 13 at 06:52 PM • permalink

  22. Even though it was a prank, it has become a huge new story.  So for the sake of public interest the Leunig cartoon comparing Auschwitz to Israel should be shown together with the fake Leunig comments (acknowleging them to by fake).  This might help the public to see why the Iranian newspaper was taken in by the prank.  It would be interesting to see how Leunig responds to that.

    Posted by Melanie on 2006 02 13 at 06:53 PM • permalink

  23. #19 It is a Leunig cartoon. That part is correct. The incorrect part is that he claims he didn’t submit it to the competition. He is saddened by this exposure, just as he is saddened by everything else
    http://humbugonline.blogspot.com/2006/01/secret-of-michael-leunigs-success.html

    Posted by quillpen on 2006 02 13 at 06:55 PM • permalink

  24. It is nice to see Leunig getting exposed for what he is: a hateful little man.

    Posted by lingus4 on 2006 02 13 at 06:59 PM • permalink

  25. Imagine that, his everyday cartoons are anti-semetic enough to slot straight into a anti jew competition run by the theocracy of Iran.
    And the best he can manage is a deer-in-the-headlights look and claim hes the victim.
    hes the tragic result or leaving his mind so open everything has fallen out.

    Posted by thefrollickingmole on 2006 02 13 at 07:02 PM • permalink

  26. Leunbat submits entry to holocaust cartoon competition - a fraud???  I guess this comes under “fake but true”...

    Posted by anthony_r on 2006 02 13 at 07:06 PM • permalink

  27. Please show some compassion for Leunig.

    For so long people have thought that those touched by the holocaust were the true victims, but they have failed to take into account the traumas faced by a middle class Australian who is forced to draw pictures for a living.

    Posted by Margos Maid on 2006 02 13 at 07:17 PM • permalink

  28. I heard Leunig on the news - this was the leading story on the ABC.  Leunig was almost in tears saying something like..this is what happens when you stand up for something or other.

    It could’ve been sent in by someone supported him that thought the cartoons should be getting more exposure or by someone who wanted to hurt him.  Either way it exposes what an arse he is.

    Posted by Melanie on 2006 02 13 at 07:21 PM • permalink

  29. Is this whole thing neat or what? The genuine submissions will prove that in the west we’re quite capable of dealing with offensive material in a civil peaceful manner, contrary to what this competition is trying to prove, AND we get to out the grandiosing scum that exist within our society for what they are.

    And the organisers come out looking even more stupid for thinking they could pull one over us.

    Bring on the toons!

    Posted by HC44 on 2006 02 13 at 07:22 PM • permalink

  30. Good prank.

    Posted by Donnah on 2006 02 13 at 07:25 PM • permalink

  31. Take that, Mr Curly, and stick it in your teapot.

    Posted by slatts on 2006 02 13 at 07:39 PM • permalink

  32. It all [Leunig, etc., et al] seems to me to be only the tactic of thought chaos, of which the prize is to somehow come out “on top”. So I must rejoin what Bob Dylan said, “Who gets there first is uncertain.” It’s the wrong game.

    Posted by Joe Peden on 2006 02 13 at 07:40 PM • permalink

  33. I heard the goose on Trioli’s show this morning. He is not amused. To show he is in not amused he is going to find out who sent the cartoon in his name. When he finds that person he will tell them how unamused he is. See!

    I love listening to hand wringers get angry.
    I feel like I’m watching a South Park movie.

    Posted by gubba on 2006 02 13 at 07:43 PM • permalink

  34. Unfortunately, the smh is getting a little confused Fake Leunig Cartoon sparks storm.

    The cartoon wasn’t fake, dammit!

    Posted by duncanm on 2006 02 13 at 07:48 PM • permalink

  35. Leunig’s just annoyed because someone else beat him to it.

    Posted by jic on 2006 02 13 at 07:56 PM • permalink

  36. He sounded so forlorn and hurt on the radio that someone would seek to promote his work. His lack of empathy for the many he has hurt is astonishing.

    Posted by captain on 2006 02 13 at 07:59 PM • permalink

  37. Leunig must have been advised by John Kerry because Leunig intended to submit the cartoon before he decided not to submit the cartoon.

    Posted by perfectsense on 2006 02 13 at 08:00 PM • permalink

  38. I suddenly understand the meaning of

    “Fake but accurate”

    Leunig needs to ask why this “prank” was so credible

    Posted by the nailgun on 2006 02 13 at 08:05 PM • permalink

  39. Michael Gawendas refusal to print leunig’s “Arbeit macht frei"cartoon can be read HERE
    The original Cartoon can be seen
    HERE
    The implication in my mind is
    It is worse for Jews to wage war to defend themselves fron Anhilation , than to work to death in Nazi Concentration camps.
    At least the Age pulled it!

    Posted by davo on 2006 02 13 at 08:07 PM • permalink

  40. The good news is that even though it is a fake going on recent precedents this is all the license we need to smash and burn stuff. I’m starting with letting the tyres down on all the bikes in the bike rack outside the Greens offices. And they better re-inflate the tyres with a hand pump or I’m dobbing them into Gaia.

    Posted by the nailgun on 2006 02 13 at 08:10 PM • permalink

  41. 18# Of the all the taqiyya practising islamic community leaders in Oz, surely Dr Amir Ali is one of the most odious. Any chance to vilify Australians is always leaped on by this parasite. You might remember in the aftermath of the terror raids, his only reaction was to demand the govt provide protection for mosques, islamic schools etc from non-existent “gangs of rednecks”, ignoring the fact that the only seriously dangerous gangs in Sydney actually come from the community he purports to represent AND people from this very same community had just been arrested for plotting to mass murder their fellow citizens.  Muslim head seeks PM’s help to stop backlash

    Posted by Tancred on 2006 02 13 at 08:19 PM • permalink

  42. Damm!
    According to Forbes magazine there is a Brazilian rat claiming to be the first submitting a cartoon to that Iranian rag....forget its’ name....do you care?
    Thought so.
    But we must not allow this.
    Leunig is the worlds’ biggest arsehole so this Brazilian freeloader ought to butt out.
    Not convinced?
    Even The Age refused to publish the Leunig cartoons in question.
    Strewth!
    Must look for the Trioli transcript re Leunigs hand-wringing appearance.
    Sounds much better than the Simpsons or South Park.
    Life really does imitate art.
    Woohoo!!!

    Posted by desert rat on 2006 02 13 at 08:23 PM • permalink

  43. To draw a crass, Holocaust-mocking cartoon and to have it rejected by an Australian newspaper is one thing; but to draw the cartoon and have it accepted for publication by an Iranian newspaper, oh no, that would be an anathema to the sensitive (albeit tough, noncompromising, iconoclastic, and nonconformist; although still idealistic, humanistic, gentle, and compassionate) soul of Michael Leunig, the "Australia’s Living National Treasure."
    Oh, dear, the amount of moral contortions that sensitive cartoonists must undertake on daily basis is staggering.

    Posted by tmciolek on 2006 02 13 at 08:24 PM • permalink

  44. Funny how the place where the cartoons are posted makes sooooo much difference. For example:

    The Age = brave, an apt portrayal of the middle east situation

    An Iranian site devoted to mocking the holocaust = an unfair portrayal of an ‘artiste’s work’

    If the duck fits Mike, wear it.

    Posted by Nic on 2006 02 13 at 08:24 PM • permalink

  45. tmciolek, must be ESP, lol.

    Posted by Nic on 2006 02 13 at 08:25 PM • permalink

  46. ``I’ve been set up horribly, maliciously and to me it denotes what it means to stand up against this and you know, it’s difficult,’’ he said.

    So he’s got the international ear, a glorious opportunity to strike a blow for peace and justice, and he whines about himself?

    Talk about blowing your 15 minutes.

    Posted by rhhardin on 2006 02 13 at 08:30 PM • permalink

  47. #20- you forget that women have no rights subtract 10 percent and then calculate it a $4000/child..LOL

    Posted by ratio on 2006 02 13 at 08:30 PM • permalink

  48. I wonder if we’ll get a free calender of his cartoons next year?

    Islamic Law on Female Circumcision.Muslims usually insist that this practice is a cultural issue, and it is not religiously mandated by Islam. So if it’s cultural how can they call Islam name calling as racist if it’s a religion and not a race?

    Re: aust news today, I’m stumped on this one.. I need to review a dictionary again…

    I’m off to hoover !!

    Posted by ratio on 2006 02 13 at 08:36 PM • permalink

  49. The Age is seeking legal advice on behalf of Leunig.

    Now that would be an interesting defamation case.

    Leunig: “Your Honor, the defendant had my cartoon published and made me look anti-semitic.”

    Leunig: *displays cartoon*

    Judge: “Yeessssssss......”

    Posted by HC44 on 2006 02 13 at 08:40 PM • permalink

  50. Well, I’m willing to attest to the “truthiness” of the Leunig cartoon.  It certainly seems fake, but accurate…

    Posted by richard mcenroe on 2006 02 13 at 08:46 PM • permalink

  51. Let’s not take this Living National Treasure business too far - also on the list:
    Phillip Adams
    Bob Brown
    Russell Crowe
    Peter Garrett
    Germaine Greer
    Paul Keating
    Cheryl Kernot
    Gough Whitlam (and his wife, Margaret)
    and David Williamson.

    I am suspicious that perhaps the ABC had a hand in compiling this list (but not too great a hand, as John Howard is also listed). Well worth a look.

    Posted by Ian Deans on 2006 02 13 at 08:47 PM • permalink

  52. You mean there’s a Leunig cartoon Gawenda actually found too tasteless to print?

    Posted by richard mcenroe on 2006 02 13 at 08:48 PM • permalink

  53. Leunbat refutation is ambiguous:

    “Somebody is acting fraudulently to discredit me and your website and I ask you not to assist them in this misleading and criminal activity ... This (is a) very serious hoax.”

    Posted by anthony_r on 2006 02 13 at 08:54 PM • permalink

  54. Let’s burn down the Leunbat’s house.

    Then the international press will be forced to highly his insensitivity.

    Posted by Mike Jericho on 2006 02 13 at 08:58 PM • permalink

  55. Leunigate!

    Posted by Lucky Nutsacks on 2006 02 13 at 09:02 PM • permalink

  56. #51

    Living treasure list? Are you sure that they are all still alive, I have my doubts on some…

    Posted by kae on 2006 02 13 at 09:04 PM • permalink

  57. #42

    The Brazilian’s name is “Latuff”. He has been posting cartoons for years to Nazimedia (Indymedia) and well received there. He is obviously looking for some publicity, without realising it will probably make him even more untouchable in the sane world.

    Posted by Dan Lewis on 2006 02 13 at 09:08 PM • permalink

  58. More like “accurate but fake”!

    Posted by Jim Treacher on 2006 02 13 at 09:08 PM • permalink

  59. Leunig said:

    "It could be any number of people - there a number of columnists and bloggers who have been particularly hateful of me for quite a long time and have suggested all sorts of hateful and hateful things towards me,” he said.

    “The mind jumps towards all these kind of people but I must refrain from imagining anyone in particular - it could be a kid.”

    Wonder who he was thinking of?
    He is dismayed by what is a hurtful act.  I think whoever it was was being kind but kindess is not always sugar coated.

    ‘I think Michael Gawenda just didn’t get it. I think the drawing is sympathetic to all Jews who ever suffered but sympathy is not always expressed with sugar.’
    Conversation with Media Watch and Michael Leunig

    Posted by Melanie on 2006 02 13 at 09:17 PM • permalink

  60. "The fun is over”, huh? Looks to me like it’s just beginning!

    Posted by Brian Tiemann on 2006 02 13 at 09:17 PM • permalink

  61. Has anybody noticed that the Jew arriving at Auchwitz seems to be doing so voluntarily?

    Posted by murph on 2006 02 13 at 09:20 PM • permalink

  62. Funny how quickly Leunig is squealing when the people he claims to be supporting actually accept and promote his support of them. Another head-tilter exposed as merely a poseur. Couldn’t have happened to a better guy, either.

    Posted by PW on 2006 02 13 at 09:20 PM • permalink

  63. Why can’t we have a Religious Olympics instead of countries?

    Posted by ratio on 2006 02 13 at 09:24 PM • permalink

  64. So let’s be clear about this.

    Yes, he drew the cartoon.

    Yes, he actually submitted it for publication.

    It got published somewhere else.

    He’s being set up?

    Posted by richard mcenroe on 2006 02 13 at 09:27 PM • permalink

  65. BTW Tim, congrats on Australia’s win over Switzerland yesterday…

    Posted by richard mcenroe on 2006 02 13 at 09:28 PM • permalink

  66. After the “artisitic displays of “piss christ” and the Virgin Mary being defecated on and the holocaust cartoons, A new set of exhibits is on show in Italy.

    Oriana Fallaci beheaded
    Will these odious creations be a source of inspiration to Leunig’s anti western art?
    Should we now begin torching Italian restaurants in Melbourne and Sydney to show our acceptance of Muslim cilture?

    Posted by davo on 2006 02 13 at 09:31 PM • permalink

  67. So in Leunig’s own terms, the publication of Leunig’s own cartoon is a taunt of… Leunig?

    Posted by richard mcenroe on 2006 02 13 at 09:31 PM • permalink

  68. Strange how the newspaper will include the link to IranCartoons.com in this story but not to TimBlair.net when then ran their story on the Danish cartoons published by an Aussie blogger...or maybe, being The Age, not so strange at all.

    Posted by Villeurbanne on 2006 02 13 at 09:36 PM • permalink

  69. Can anyone remember a Bill Leak cartoon that is on message to send to mullahland? Or for that matter any other of our brave cartoonists will do.

    Margo might know.

    Posted by gubba on 2006 02 13 at 09:41 PM • permalink

  70. #65
    Awesome and on clay too!
    At last, a new generation is emerging.
    Fitzy must be really proud and all this without Leyton!
    Davis cup is the way for young talent to find their confidence -no doubt

    Posted by davo on 2006 02 13 at 09:45 PM • permalink

  71. Oh dear, widdle Leunacy baby was hurtie by the bad, bad boogeyman motooners. Oh my, those Jooozs made my looney cry “wah, wah, I nevah hoit nobody with my toons, why do they pick on me, those Joos, huh? What did I evah do to hoit nobody?” It’s OK baby, thurn on your widdle tummy and I’ll give you a massage like you like it.

    Posted by stats on 2006 02 13 at 09:48 PM • permalink

  72. "I learnt last night that some of my cartoons from a few years back have been submitted as an entry in that competition,” Mr Leunig told ABC radio.

    Loosely translated: Leunig to Iran:  “Shh!  Not so loud!”

    And did he ever explain how the pro-war factions somehow got hold of his cartoons.  Did they Watergate The Age’s offices?

    Posted by richard mcenroe on 2006 02 13 at 09:54 PM • permalink

  73. I think Mr. Leunig should take his case to the International Court at The Hague. Once the Milosevic trial wraps up in 2019, the judges are going to need something else to do.....

    Posted by Rob C. on 2006 02 13 at 09:55 PM • permalink

  74. As for the point Iran is trying to make, Israel News Agency is going to publish the cartoons - together with educational disclaimers.  Beats burning down embassies.

    Posted by Melanie on 2006 02 13 at 10:21 PM • permalink

  75. Ah, right, so Loonig is anti-war.  But he would presumably regard Intifadas 1 and 2, and the ‘insurgency’ in Iraq as wars of resistance and liberation, surely?  So where are all the anti-Intifada, anti-insurgency cartoons?  But I’m forgetting: as he already explained in his Age piece, we’re meant to infer from his anti-Israeli cartoons that he is also strongly opposed to Palestinian violence.  He shouldn’t have to draw us a picture, so to speak.

    Posted by cuckoo on 2006 02 13 at 10:27 PM • permalink

  76. Reality really sucks, huh, Leunig?

    Posted by The_Real_JeffS on 2006 02 13 at 10:31 PM • permalink

  77. I live in China and get my news online - these four sentences on National Nine News ran one after the other -
    “Opposition Leader Kim Beazley says Danna Vale’s comments are symptomatic of the Liberal Party’s growing extremism.
    Muslim groups have labelled the comments as racist.
    Mr Beazley said Ms Vale was representative of growing government extremism.
    “Poor old Dana Vale is an authentic representative of this government’s growing extremism.”
    Also
    “Ms Vale later denied telling ABC radio that Muslims were having too many children.
    “I was verballed this morning by the ABC,” she later told Macquarie Radio.
    “I would never say such a thing and I did not say it.”
    My first blog - inspired by ratio and, of course, Tim.

    Posted by LaoHuLi on 2006 02 13 at 10:31 PM • permalink

  78. Maybe O.J. can help him track down the hoaxer faxer?

    Posted by andycanuck on 2006 02 13 at 10:36 PM • permalink

  79. #51,The Living Tresure list will have more credibility when they add Jeannie Little.

    Anyway, what’s the National Trust doing deciding who is a living treasure? Aren’t they supposed to be about buildings (as opposed to old crocks)?

    Posted by mr magoo on 2006 02 13 at 10:50 PM • permalink

  80. I’m starting to think that Leunig can’t take a joke…

    Posted by Margos Maid on 2006 02 13 at 10:51 PM • permalink

  81. I say, Tim’s been mentioned in Crikey again and yet it’s not malicious. What is going on?

    Posted by Ian Deans on 2006 02 13 at 10:57 PM • permalink

  82. Iran’s bluff has been called at the Neo-Con.

    Posted by JamesP on 2006 02 13 at 11:00 PM • permalink

  83. ANOTHER ISLAMIC DICTATE: VALENTINE’S DAY INCORRECT

    An Islamic separatist women’s group, known for its fierce opposition to Western-style romance, vowed to prevent couples celebrating Valentine’s Day. “We will not allow anyone to observe Valentine’s Day as it does nothing but spread immorality among youth,” said Aasiya Andrabi, firebrand leader of the separatist Dukhtaran-e-Millat or Daughters of Faith. The group, which supports a 16-year-old separatist insurgency against New Delhi’s rule in Indian Kashmir, is also engaged in a crusade to stamp out immorality in the Muslim-majority region. Valentine’s Day, which is celebrated February 14, is “against our culture and Islamic teachings,” Andrabi said in a statement reported by Current News, a local news agency.

    The anti-Valentine’s Day protest Andrabi’s return to moral policing after her release from jail where she spent four months for harassing a couple. The group kicked off its campaign Friday against “Lover’s Day” in Srinagar, the state’s summer capital, by raiding half a dozen shops, confiscating Valentine’s Day cards and making a bonfire out of them. The aim of Valentine’s Day is to “pave the way for Western culture to invade youths’ hearts and minds and distance them from their traditional culture and Islamic principles,” added Andrabi. The group has previously smeared black paint on film posters portraying semi-naked women.

    Andrabi, who wears a head-to-toe veil in line with Islamic tradition, has also been running a largely unsuccessful campaign to get women to wear similar attire in Indian Kashmir. Kashmirs largely Muslim population is socially conservative, but over the past few years couples have openly dated in parks, restaurants and Internet cafes.

    “We want to save our youth from indecency and desire to see them as true followers of Islam. We won’t like them to follow Western culture,” Andrabi said on Saturday. Moderate and hardline factions of the regions main separatist alliance and other Islamic groups rallied around Andabi when she was in jail and urged her release, saying she was doing a good job fighting obscenity and immorality.

    Aint luvvvvvvvvv grand? Peace!!

    Posted by ratio on 2006 02 13 at 11:02 PM • permalink

  84. "Australia’s Shakespeare sounds like he needs a hug. Of course, what must really be eating at Leunig is that a Holocaust-mocking contest instantly accepted his cartoon, and that the global press found such a circumstance so plausible."

    Please tell me Tim Blair didn’t just use the “fake but true” arguement.

    Posted by Ahriman on 2006 02 13 at 11:04 PM • permalink

  85. Slightly o/t - Danna Vale was Right

    Team A @2001 = 20,500,000
    Growth Rate p.a = 1.14%
    Number in 2056 = 38,375,717

    Team M @2001 = 281576
    Growth Rate p.a = 8%
    Number in 2056 = 22,934,609

    Percentage Team M in Total Pop’n = 60%

    Posted by knuckleheadwatch on 2006 02 13 at 11:09 PM • permalink

  86. tssk - The Age is taking legal advice? What about - going into receivership perhaps???

    Posted by Razor on 2006 02 13 at 11:10 PM • permalink

  87. Memo to Leunig: Farrah wants her ‘do’ back!

    Posted by Brian on 2006 02 13 at 11:16 PM • permalink

  88. Please tell me Tim Blair didn’t just use the “fake but true” arguement.

    ahriman

    No he didn’t.

    fact: the cartoon is the product of Michael Leunig

    fact: the cartoon was accepted as an entrant into a “bad taste” competition

    fact: the cartoon is extraordinarily offensive

    Posted by murph on 2006 02 13 at 11:22 PM • permalink

  89. #85 except, CBL, that birth rates do not stay constant, and that extremely high BR likes that of the muslim population (is it actually 8%, I find that hard to believe) is likely to fall real quick as they get integrated into the main culture, which, I optimistically believe, they eventually will.  In the meantime though.....

    Posted by entropy on 2006 02 13 at 11:26 PM • permalink

  90. This is hilarious. Mike’s calling his own work a fraud now.

    I wonder if Andy is watching the clock?

    Posted by powderkeg on 2006 02 13 at 11:30 PM • permalink

  91. entropy

    1) click on the dfat link = 40% growth in 5 years = 8%pa

    2) once it reaches a “tipping point” in 25-30 years when their are very-very few non-M kids in schools I think Team A will stop growting altogether.

    3) I hope like heck your right but what will be “the main culture”

    Posted by knuckleheadwatch on 2006 02 13 at 11:32 PM • permalink

  92. How thin-skinned he is when he is on the receiving end. Leunig fails dismally to acknowledge his own aggression. He is a typical Latham ‘hater’. But of course for the haters, the crime is only committed when you expose themn for what they are.

    Posted by captain on 2006 02 13 at 11:32 PM • permalink

  93. Leunig request to the Iranian newspaper - from The Age

    Somebody is acting fraudulently to discredit me and your website
    Is he really worried about someone discrediting the Iranian newpaper?
    Leunig said the editors of the Iranian website had been “the first to defuse this”, removing the cartoon immediately and apologising. He said he was pleased the editors were “acting in the interests of truth”.
    Yes, the newpaper that is preaching holocaust denial is acting in the interest of truth.  Maybe Leunig actually did post to them but didn’t realise his comments would be made public.

    Posted by Melanie on 2006 02 13 at 11:35 PM • permalink

  94. The point is that the Iranian pub WOULD HAVE published them as cartoons worthy of HOLOCAUST Denial.
    They are therefore worthy ofdescription as Holocaust Denial.

    Posted by davo on 2006 02 13 at 11:41 PM • permalink

  95. The only thing better than this would be if Leunig’s cartoon had won the contest. 

    You just can’t make this stuff up.

    Posted by RebeccaH on 2006 02 13 at 11:43 PM • permalink

  96. Me, I’m a leo.

    Die, infidel, die.

    Posted by Achillea on 2006 02 13 at 11:47 PM • permalink

  97. Another example of Michael Leunig’s work is his Easter 2005 cartoon “War on terror 2000 years ago (Middle East)."
    What a precious elegance of thought! What an unaffected humanism! Finally, what a monumental contribution to a harmoniously multi-culti Australia!  I am awed.

    (the cartoon reference is courtesy of the-neo-con.blogspot.com)

    Posted by tmciolek on 2006 02 13 at 11:55 PM • permalink

  98. Perhaps an artistic person could reverse engineer the disgraceful Leunig Holocaust cartoon and submit it all over again making it clear it was only INSPIRED by Leunig.

    I think he’d have to be a serious candidate for victory considering all the opium smoking mentally ill toon drawing Mullahs he’d be up against.

    Any takers?

    Posted by Andrew Landeryou on 2006 02 13 at 11:57 PM • permalink

  99. Infidel;Infidel is an interactive fiction computer game published by Infocom in 1983. It was written by Michael Berlyn and was the first in the “Tales of Adventure” line. Due to Infocom’s virtual Z-Machine, it was ported to a wide variety of popular computing systems of the day, including the Apple II and Commodore 64.
    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infidel_(computer_game)

    Infidel:a person who does not believe in your particular religion, denomination or religious tradition. Similar to “Unbeliever” but more of a “snarl” word.
    http://www.religioustolerance.org/gl_i.htm

    This weeks lucky stars:

    Leo: You may be lucky and find yourself been drawn by a cartoonist.

    Virgo: Watch out for large crowds

    Taurus: Stop others bullying you around

    cancer: you may get drawn like snoopy or mecca

    mullah: you may find it hard to take a joke

    Allah: It seems we still havn’t found you so be lucky and show us your lucky nos is 5

    Virgo: well go back to bed.

    Posted by 1.618 on 2006 02 14 at 12:06 AM • permalink

  100. I thought there would be a lot of hate and vitriolic name calling here today. I see I was correct.

    Posted by dandrew on 2006 02 14 at 12:09 AM • permalink

  101. Good idea #98.

    Leunig has said he was worried that “Somebody is acting fraudulently to discredit me” when it is probably not necessary to take it that far - he has already done most of the work.

    Posted by Margos Maid on 2006 02 14 at 12:12 AM • permalink

  102. CBL - #91

    The growth rate is 8%, not the birth rate.

    This figure includes immigration.

    I doubt that we’ll be drowned out.  However, Dana Vale is correct in highlighting the fact that Australian is doing itself a massive disservice by enabling the murder of 100,000 unborn humans each year.

    Posted by murph on 2006 02 14 at 12:13 AM • permalink

  103. Leunig even gets a mention in Qatar’s leading English daily.

    Posted by Lucky Nutsacks on 2006 02 14 at 12:15 AM • permalink

  104. Congratulations on your correctness dandrew, you dickwad.

    Posted by Margos Maid on 2006 02 14 at 12:15 AM • permalink

  105. #100 dandrew, or do you prefer dandy?  There’s no vitriol here.  A bit of glee, sure, but hate? vitriol? no way…

    Posted by anthony_r on 2006 02 14 at 12:17 AM • permalink

  106. #100 - dandrew

    Has anything in particular caught your eye?  If so, care to point it out and explain why it is unwarranted?

    Posted by murph on 2006 02 14 at 12:17 AM • permalink

  107. No offence dandrew - that was an attempt at humour.

    Posted by Margos Maid on 2006 02 14 at 12:18 AM • permalink

  108. #9- that’s one lot of treasures that would be better off buried; have a look through the whole list- except for a dozen or so, the rest would only even make adequate landfil, garbage having a much lower level of noxious gas.

    Even MacDonalds styrofoam packaging has a shorter half-life than the smug self-importance of these twerps.

    Who decides these things? The Barking Mad Leftist Division of the Australia Council?

    Posted by Habib on 2006 02 14 at 12:20 AM • permalink

  109. Yes I know Murph and the numbers are correct

    281576 * e(to the power of)(1.08*55)

    =22,934,609

    “Ever since Newton invented the Calculus in the 17th century, we have known how to solve this equation for N, the number of people in the population at any given time....The solution is:

    N=N0 e rt

    where N0 represents the starting population.
    model

    Posted by knuckleheadwatch on 2006 02 14 at 12:21 AM • permalink

  110. The London Telegraph has made the point that any destuction or insulting of the Danish flag is an insult to Christianity because it has a cross on it.

    Posted by Susan Norton on 2006 02 14 at 12:23 AM • permalink

  111. murph, The vast majority of comments are insulting remarks about Leunig. There is no attempt at analysis of what he might have meant by his cartoon nor why he may be upset at its use in an obviously anti-semitic campaign.

    Posted by dandrew on 2006 02 14 at 12:27 AM • permalink

  112. #109 - And my point is that Australia can decide to stem the immigration flow of Muslims and/or increase the immigration flow of non-Muslims.  The 40% increase over five years is because the numbers were low beforehand.  A 40% increase over the next five years would require the migrant cap to be increased simply to accommodate the numbers.

    Also, it does not indicate that the Muslims are being churned out at a birth rate of 8%.

    Posted by murph on 2006 02 14 at 12:32 AM • permalink

  113. dandrew

    Well dandrew.  Why don’t you enlighten us?

    Posted by murph on 2006 02 14 at 12:33 AM • permalink

  114. If I didn’t want something used in an anti-semitic campaign I wouldn’t produce something that was anti-semitic.

    Posted by Margos Maid on 2006 02 14 at 12:34 AM • permalink

  115. #111 - Leunig has a history of anti-semitism. Read this if you care to.

    Posted by Lucky Nutsacks on 2006 02 14 at 12:37 AM • permalink

  116. You’ve not been paying attention Dandy.

    -- Nora

    Posted by The Thin Man Returns on 2006 02 14 at 12:40 AM • permalink

  117. dandrew

    It doesn’t take a sophist wank-stain to tell us what Leunig meant.  It’s obvious that he is indifferent to the suffering of Jews in Auschwitz and is contemptuous of Israel’s right to defend itself from the barbarians at its gates.  The fact that the Jew at Auchwitz is drawn such that it appears that he is arriving voluntarily is enough information for me and anybosy else to form an opinion as to what Leunig meant.

    This is a theme for Leunig, who recently drew a cartoon in which he insinuated that Ariel Sharon’s stroke was karma for the justice handed to Sheik Yasin.

    Posted by murph on 2006 02 14 at 12:42 AM • permalink

  118. murph,
    Assume for a moment that Luenig’s cartoon was not anti-semitic but was implying that a constant state of war is not conducive to a happy homeland for the jewish people.

    If so, it follows that he would not like it used in a campaign by a regime that advocates the destruction of Israel.

    Posted by dandrew on 2006 02 14 at 12:42 AM • permalink

  119. My assumption moment has come and gone.

    Posted by Margos Maid on 2006 02 14 at 12:46 AM • permalink

  120. Yeah right.  10 out of 10 for the mental gymnastics there, dandrew.

    Slight problem though:  Michael Gawenda saw it for what it was.  The Iranians saw it for it was.

    Posted by murph on 2006 02 14 at 12:47 AM • permalink

  121. Assume for a moment that Luenig’s cartoon was not anti-semitic but was implying that a constant state of war is not conducive to a happy homeland for the jewish people.

    So he’s implying that the Jews should just bend over and take it up the backside like they did at Auschwitz, Baba Yar etc etc.

    Since he’s in the business of preaching, why doesn’t Leunig stand on a street corner in Ramallah and implore the Palestinians to do the same?

    Posted by murph on 2006 02 14 at 12:51 AM • permalink

  122. O/T What happened to the “Have your say” section on the mediawatch site?

    Posted by lingus4 on 2006 02 14 at 12:53 AM • permalink

  123. dandrew:

    There is no attempt at analysis of what he might have meant by his cartoon nor why he may be upset at its use in an obviously anti-semitic campaign

    OK :- His pictures are straight foward - It is obscene for Jews to defend themselves.  He’s upset because the kings of anti-Semitism loved his work so the pretending is over.

    Posted by Melanie on 2006 02 14 at 12:53 AM • permalink

  124. You are correct Dandrew, a “constant state of war is not conducive to a happy homeland for the Jewish people.” You want to let all the loons surrounding the place know that.

    I fail to understand how anyone considers the building of a wall to be an offensive action.

    Luenig stands condemned by his own pen - the fact his cartoon was accepted, no matter who submitted it says it all.  That the ultimate judges of anti-Semitism accepted his cartoon for their childish competition is prima facie.

    Posted by Ralph Wiggum on 2006 02 14 at 12:54 AM • permalink

  125. Excuse me… is dandy andy REALLY suggesting our appreciation of Leunig’s cartoon is insufficiently nuanced?!

    Posted by richard mcenroe on 2006 02 14 at 12:57 AM • permalink

  126. Murph,

    Thanks. I like to think my mind is still agile enough for mental gymnastics and has not become sclerotic.

    Is it not possible he was drawing upon the old maxim of two wrongs not making a right?

    Posted by dandrew on 2006 02 14 at 12:59 AM • permalink

  127. Two lefts don’t make a right, but three do.

    -- Nora

    Posted by The Thin Man Returns on 2006 02 14 at 01:04 AM • permalink

  128. richard mcenroe

    I am suggesting your appreciation of the world is insufficiently nuanced.

    Posted by dandrew on 2006 02 14 at 01:04 AM • permalink

  129. Richard,

    I believe so.

    Dandrew,

    No.  I think he’s drawing upon the oldest maxim: Jooos should be exterminated.

    Posted by murph on 2006 02 14 at 01:06 AM • permalink

  130. dandrew

    And I am suggesting that you are intellectually dishonest.

    Posted by murph on 2006 02 14 at 01:08 AM • permalink

  131. dandrew:

    Is it not possible he was drawing upon the old maxim of two wrongs not making a right?

    It was wrong for the Nazis to try to exterminate the Jews.  It is wrong for the Islamofacists to try now.
    What Leunig is objecting to is Jews defending themselves.  Where is the wrong in that?

    Posted by Melanie on 2006 02 14 at 01:09 AM • permalink

  132. murph,

    Intellectually dishonest. Why? Because I’m suggesting a cartoon can be interpreted more that one way?

    Posted by dandrew on 2006 02 14 at 01:14 AM • permalink

  133. Is it possible that the hoity toity affectation of presenting all of one’s points in the form of rhetorical questions is so outworn, so arch, so effete, and so pretentious as to instamatically identify their poser as a poseur?  Is it?  I think it is.

    Posted by Stoop Davy Dave on 2006 02 14 at 01:17 AM • permalink

  134. Intellectually dishonest. Why? Because I’m suggesting a cartoon can be interpreted more that one way?

    Well dandrew, what is the second way, what is the second wrong?

    Posted by Melanie on 2006 02 14 at 01:17 AM • permalink

  135. Melanie,

    “Islamofascists”? See what I meant about name calling.

    Hardly an attitude that will foster peace.

    Posted by dandrew on 2006 02 14 at 01:21 AM • permalink

  136. Stoop,

    More insults but no debate.

    By the way, an instamatic is a camera.

    Posted by dandrew on 2006 02 14 at 01:24 AM • permalink

  137. melanie said: “It is wrong for the Islamofacists to try to exterminate the Jews.”

    How gauche of you, Melanie!

    “It is wrong for persons of the Islamic faith to try to exterminate the Jews”.

    There, isn’t that much nicer?

    Posted by Brett_McS on 2006 02 14 at 01:26 AM • permalink

  138. dandrew: 

    “Islamofascists”? See what I meant about name calling.

    Read Hamas’s charter and tell me the difference between that and the Nazi ideology.

    Posted by Melanie on 2006 02 14 at 01:27 AM • permalink

  139. Seeing the nuance in cartoons about death camps will foster peace. Won’t it dand-meister? Could it be true?

    Posted by Margos Maid on 2006 02 14 at 01:29 AM • permalink

  140. More insults but no debate.

    Your fake questions are not fit fodder for any debate, and you are unworthy. 

    By the way, an instamatic is a camera.

    Not any more, and not for a long time.

    Posted by Stoop Davy Dave on 2006 02 14 at 01:30 AM • permalink

  141. More “fake but accurate”?

    Maybe he didn’t, but he could have.

    Posted by Mystery Meat on 2006 02 14 at 01:31 AM • permalink

  142. Luenig with all his poems and angels and soul searching cannot identify his own antisemetism. and he is not alone, he is supported by many “progressives” in that respect and even some jews like Uri Avnery.
    But we are in a new game now.
    it is not only the JEWS that have NO RIGHT TO SELF DEFENCE, It is the Whole of the Non Islamic world too, and that includes Luenig himself.
    I have yet to meet a moderate Muslim who is ashamed for any of the 4000+ terrorist actions commited world wide by his co-religionists since 911.

    Posted by davo on 2006 02 14 at 01:37 AM • permalink

  143. Melanie - some people misuse religions. That is hardly a reason to slander the the entire religion. It is not better and not more helpful than demonising all jews as global controlling Zionists.

    Margos - trying to understand other’s points of view can foster peace.

    Stoop - I am sure some Instamatics still exist. “Instamatically” was never a word as far as I know

    Posted by dandrew on 2006 02 14 at 01:39 AM • permalink

  144. Whats slightly weird is The Age is now running the same story about ‘pro-war hoaxers’ under a different URL
    http://www.theage.com.au/news/world/ive-been-set-up-horribly-says-leunig/2006/02/14/1139679542847.html
    and under the byline ‘Craig Dixon’.

    The author is incredibly skillful at giving the impression that the whole thing is a hoax, the cartoons are fake, and nothing to do with Leunig, without actually telling a direct lie.

    It’s deceitful journalism though.

    Posted by olorijn on 2006 02 14 at 01:43 AM • permalink

  145. Michael Leunig - a national living bigot treasure.

    Posted by Lucky Nutsacks on 2006 02 14 at 01:43 AM • permalink

  146. dandrew:

    some people misuse religions. That is hardly a reason to slander the the entire religion. It is not better and not more helpful than demonising all jews as global controlling Zionists.

    You mean not ALL jews are global controlling Zioninst - only SOME of them.  gee.
    Anyway I diffentiate when I say Islamists/Islamofacist I mean they mass-murdering type - otherwise I would say Muslim.

    Posted by Melanie on 2006 02 14 at 01:45 AM • permalink

  147. davo,

    What separates terrorist attacks from military attacks? The uniforms? The weapons used?

    Posted by dandrew on 2006 02 14 at 01:46 AM • permalink

  148. dandrew:

    What separates terrorist attacks from military attacks?
    How about the intentional killing of innocent cilvilians.  Simple.

    Posted by Melanie on 2006 02 14 at 01:47 AM • permalink

  149. Yes I know Murph and the numbers are correct

    Uh....no they aren’t. You obviously don’t know how to properly model population growth.

    If you look at the ABS’s actual modelling of population projections you’ll find at the current level of immigration the 2051 population will be 28 million.

    That’s Total

    The Muslim increase (which, like entropy, I think is exaggerated on the DFAT page) is coming off an incredibly low base, and as such shows large percentage increases. Similar to that of Vietnamese in the 1970s and 80s. You’ve committed quite a common furphy by taking those isolated figures and extrapolating them like this.

    You’re also assuming that Muslim women born in Australian over subsequent generations will want to have stacks of kids. Unlikely. Have we been swamped by Catholics, a culture who also used to be notoriously fecund? Nope, after waves and waves of Catholic immigrants from Europe, Asia and elsewhere, the Catholic population is still outnumbered by Protestant faiths.

    Let’s concentrate on defeating radical Islam before we get into hysterics about “We’re about to be swamped by Muslims!”

    Posted by Quentin George on 2006 02 14 at 01:48 AM • permalink

  150. It is not better and not more helpful than demonising all jews as global controlling Zionists.

    Good God, we’ve got a live one here, folks.

    Posted by Quentin George on 2006 02 14 at 01:49 AM • permalink

  151. I sent this letter to the Age: Why does Leuing complain that the cartoon is a malicious hoax and fraud? Didn’t he write it in 2002? Its 100% his work. How then can it be a hoax and a fraud?

    Posted by Wylie Wilde on 2006 02 14 at 01:51 AM • permalink

  152. Leunig is a more “nuanced” narcissitic personality than “dandrew”: more reaction formation and less projection and denial- but it all amounts to the same low level psychopathy in the end.

    Posted by nhhhn on 2006 02 14 at 01:52 AM • permalink

  153. It is not possible to foster peace with an adversary whose only aim is to destoy you.
    This was admirably exposed during Adolf Hitler’s “negotiations” with Czechoslovakia.
    Cultural relativism, the secular religion which sees all cultures as equal only reallt breaks down when it meets a supremacist culture that itself abhors it.
    No amount of peaceful appeasement will suffice to make such a culture see us a likeable civilised individuals.
    it will be seen as sign of weakness to be used to make further demands and inroads into our midst.

    Posted by davo on 2006 02 14 at 01:52 AM • permalink

  154. Melanie,

    I could have worded that better. Whilst there are Zionists, I do doubt there are any ( except for the odd nutter) that have world domination as a goal.

    Posted by dandrew on 2006 02 14 at 01:52 AM • permalink

  155. Melanie,

    Innocent civilians killed by bombs and missiles are just “collateral damage”. How forgetfulful of me.

    Posted by dandrew on 2006 02 14 at 01:55 AM • permalink

  156. Margos - trying to understand other’s points of view can foster peace.

    Dandrew,

    The problem is that you’re not even wanting to understand Leunig’s sick view on the world.

    Posted by murph on 2006 02 14 at 01:55 AM • permalink

  157. dandrew:

    Whilst there are Zionists...
    Probably about 80% of Jews are Zionists - at least in Australia - I think you have some warped idea about what a Zionsit is.

    Posted by Melanie on 2006 02 14 at 01:56 AM • permalink

  158. Quentin. How can u be sure that the Muslims will be like the Catholics and evolve into similar secular sorts? The Muslims show no sign of changing at least, not for the next 100 years. Everywhere around the world- the Muslim population is increasing dramatically due to better standards of Western medicines, hygine, and healthcare.

    Posted by Wylie Wilde on 2006 02 14 at 01:58 AM • permalink

  159. collateral damage = intional killing = moral equivalence.
    Armies that try there best to prevent innocent lives being killed cannot be equated to terrorist who intentionally kill.  Otherwise we may as well all give up now and put on the burkha.

    Posted by Melanie on 2006 02 14 at 02:01 AM • permalink

  160. dandrew
    are you suggesting all coalition forces should immitate the Islamists and fight without uniforms?
    Would they then be legitimised in the blowing up of children’s schools and buses or able to hide amongst women and children whilst they shoot at their enemies and later claiming they were innocent civilians.
    Not a bad idea

    Posted by davo on 2006 02 14 at 02:02 AM • permalink

  161. Melanie,

    I checked my Oxford : Zionism “ movement (orig) for for the re- establishment and (now) development of a Jewish nation in what is now Israel”

    That had been my understanding. Is that warped?

    Posted by dandrew on 2006 02 14 at 02:08 AM • permalink

  162. Dandrew - “Some people misuse religions”

    Yes violently, and the are nearly all muslim clerics and jihadists.

    That includes Saudi Arabia’s most senior cleric who has been whipping up the mobs and calling for the execution of the Danish cartoonists.

    Imagine if the Pope called for the execution of the person who created the “Piss Christ” ‘artistic work’.  How the left would howl!  Yet on all left wing blogs and media we are asked to tolerate the intolerable.

    Senator Nettle would not have the guts to protest muslim restrictions on female freedoms with a t-shirt slog like “Get your Fatwas off my Fanny”, or “Get your Koran off my c--t”.  Not PC at all!

    The whole muslim religion and it’s spiritual leaders are mentally still in the 14th. century.

    Being tolerant of their intolerance and constant calls for violence is not helping all those thousands? hundreds? of tolerant non-violent muslims that the left claims are out there reign in the extremists.

    Personally I think you can count the number of muslims who have called for change to the muslim religion on your fingers and maybe toes as well.

    Its just not happening.  Wakey wakey sunshine.

    Posted by Moriarty on 2006 02 14 at 02:10 AM • permalink

  163. Melanie
    Zionism was born out of the realization that there would never be an end to European antisemetism and pogroms.Indeed the technological advances of Europe would only result in more Jews being murdered more efficiently. Some early Zionists had already forseen the coming of the Holocaust.
    Hardly the case in our wonderful new Country of Australia, where Jews do not have as they travel to various cities “How many Jews were murdered in this town ?”.

    Posted by davo on 2006 02 14 at 02:11 AM • permalink

  164. davo,

    No I do not advocate that. Neither do I approve of the terrorist that blew up the King David Hotel in the 1940’s. That the same people later acquired sophisticated weaponry and killed innocent civilians though “collateral damage” does not make the deaths any more palatable.

    Posted by dandrew on 2006 02 14 at 02:14 AM • permalink

  165. Intellectually dishonest. Why? Because I’m suggesting a cartoon can be interpreted more that one way?

    No, for ignoring a very likely meaning by being obtuse.

    As you have been obtuse and equivocating throughout this thread, that’s hardly surprising.  But I’m sure that you wanted to see it plainly stated.

    Posted by The_Real_JeffS on 2006 02 14 at 02:15 AM • permalink

  166. What a gutless parasite eh… its amazing that he can generate so much indignation when once again it was his OWN work… from his OWN degenerate mind....

    i wouldn’t be surprised if rather than some from the “pro-war lobby”, it was just a mate or ardent supporter of loonies who submitted it to the contest becoz they thought loonie would be to modest to give this tripe the wider audience he know doubts wishes it could have…

    if he was prepared to draw this manure for his adoring australian audience, and the subject is globally topical, why wouldn’t he want it to recieve global prominence with all his Jew-hating mates???  or was he just afraid that it might have some consequence on his continued employment (your so brave loonie) or that while the underlying message of his and the other rabid mussie “artistes” might be identical, no doubt many would have much more talent (wouldn’t be hard after all) and his doodles would be given the short shrift they deserve???

    surely it can’t be that he didn’t want to be associated with the whole concept of a holocaust-contest ???  obviously run and thought up by people with very similar twisted views as this sack of sh*t???

    Posted by casanova on 2006 02 14 at 02:22 AM • permalink

  167. The_Real_Jeffs

    Why is it “hardly surprising” ? Are you unsurprised at your own opinion of me?

    Posted by dandrew on 2006 02 14 at 02:23 AM • permalink

  168. The biter bit
    Tony Powell

    Posted by ajwp on 2006 02 14 at 02:23 AM • permalink

  169. Everywhere around the world- the Muslim population is increasing dramatically due to better standards of Western medicines, hygine, and healthcare.

    Yes, but not for long.

    Birthrates are declining all through the Middle East.

    Iran is already below replacement rate and expected to decline further. It’s why it’s president is playing his hand now - it’s his last chance. His country is aging faster than the US.

    Despite what you think, Muslim women don’t want to have thirteen children any more than European women do.

    The population increase is a residual from the 1970s. Countries in the Middle East are about to get a big, demographic shock.

    Posted by Quentin George on 2006 02 14 at 02:30 AM • permalink

  170. ....Europe is too, but at least they’re expecting theirs.

    Posted by Quentin George on 2006 02 14 at 02:31 AM • permalink

  171. dandrew - the french people living on the Normandy coast had the living bejeezus shot out of them in June 1944 - and they were generally pretty happy with the situation, not discounting the fact that non-combatants were killed.  The same applies for the liberation of both Iraq and Afghanistan.

    There is a huge difference between unavoidable civilian deaths caused by the military and civilians deliberately targeted by terrorists.

    I suppose you don’t think anyone should return fire if fired upon by the enemy in case they kill an innocent.

    Posted by Razor on 2006 02